Prosecution Searching Office of Former Supreme Court Researcher

Investigators for the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office probing judicial power abuse by the Supreme Court under former chief justice Yang Sung-tae are searching the office of a former chief researcher at the top court on Tuesday.

Yoo Hae-yong, the former chief judicial researcher, admitted on Monday that he had destroyed classified materials and documents that he took with him when he retired.

The National Court Administration under the top court said Yoo admitted that he shredded documents and destroyed data storage devices after a court rejected the prosecution's second request for a search warrant for his office last Thursday.

Yoo, who served as chief judicial researcher from February 2014 to January 2017, allegedly kept thousands of classified documents that he took with him when he retired in February this year.

The court refused to issue a search warrant on three previous occasions.